Church of England Nominates Gareth Mostyn as CEO of Endowment

The Church of England has nominated Gareth Mostyn to be CEO of its £8.3 billion endowment. If approved, Mostyn would replace Andrew Brown, who announced earlier this year that he would retire at the end of January.

Mostyn, who is currently chief finance and operations officer for the National Church Institutions (NCIs) of the Church of England, joined in 2018 from De Beers plc. The appointment is subject to approval by the Church Commissioners at general meeting to be held in November. If confirmed, Mostyn would start Feb. 1.

“Since his arrival as CFOO, he has demonstrated a clear-eyed commitment to delivering sustainable financial support to the Church over the long term,” Loretta Minghella, First Church Estates Commissioner, said of Mostyn in a statement. “He has a thorough understanding of the oversight required for an endowment of our size and significance.”

The CEO acts as the secretary to the Church Commissioners and supports them in strategic policy and prioritization. The role is also responsible for strategic leadership of the investments team, the Bishoprics & Cathedrals and Pastoral & Closed Churches teams, the Secretariat, the Libraries and Archives team, and a variety of corporate functions for the NCIs, including finance, human resources, and technology.

While at De Beers Mostyn was a board director responsible for strategy and corporate affairs, and before that he was CFO. In his current role, Mostyn is responsible for providing financial leadership for the NCIs, which encompasses the Church Commissioners, Archbishops’ Council, and Church of England Pensions Board.

Brown, who will retire at the end of January, has been CEO since 2003. Prior to being CEO he had been the Commissioners’ first Chief Surveyor for more than eight years. Before joining the Commissioners, Brown was a partner in a private practice firm of chartered surveyors based in central London.

“Andrew has given a remarkable 25 years of dedicated, generous and unstinting service to the Church of England,” Minghella said when Brown announced his retirement. “The nature of the Commissioners’ work requires long-term thinking in all that we do. In Andrew, we have been fortunate to have had someone who has resisted short-termism in favor of sustainability and readiness for longer–term opportunities.”

Mostyn takes over the investment fund after it reported relatively disappointing returns of 1.8% for fiscal 2018. Nevertheless, it was the fund’s 10^th straight year of positive returns, and its three-, five-, 10-, 20-, and 30-year annualized returns are ahead of its target of RPI inflation +5% per year.. Over the last 30 years, the fund has earned an average return of 8.9%.